Summer Break
by SoldierNoodles
Summary: Sasuke runs from what he wants and Sakura prays for what she needs. A modern day, high school story.


**Hello,**

**I've always wanted to get my writings down on paper so I've taken the jump and landed. This is my first ficition and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine :3**

* * *

Sakura would have never known that Sasuke hung around stoners.

Or that he was one himself.

The sight of him inhaling fumes of death from his cancer stick just made him seem even more alluring- more cool and mysterious- so Sakura let the scene engulf her thoughts. She was peeking through the space left in between the door and the wall, a considerably small space, watching the upperclassman's wide back. As usual he was caught up in his thoughts and did not feel her gaze boring into his back; Sasuke wasn't the type to flounder in attention and he often skipped this class (math) because he found the girls in his class absolutely annoying. He wasn't thinking about girls either, but rather the upcoming baseball tryouts and graduation exams. Of course Sakura didn't know this; humans can't read minds after all. So, when Sasuke turned to leave the school roof she noisily made her way back down the stairs, leaving the Uchiha thinking that Naruto had thrown a chair again. As Sakura made her way back to class from her extended bathroom break she looked out of the wall sized windows of her school. She attended a fairly large school in the country side of Japan, one could reach the ocean from here and even Tokyo, by train. Here was Iwabuchi, Japan- where you could smell the warm sea breeze during class in the summers. The days were slow and quiet, they always remained peaceful and every so often there would be the excitement surrounding the face of a new student. She'd been here all her life, including Naruto and Ino, Neji and Gaara, TenTen, Chouji... the blossom haired teen smiled to herself as she thought about her friends. She loved it here and over the years she had learned to accept herself which made her love it even more. She loved that when six o'clock rolled around the school would be flooded in the reddish, pinkish, or orange like color from the setting sun. She appreciated that you could drive down to the beach after school on Saturday and spend Sunday on the beach. She enjoyed the idea of always being in the quiet countryside- her surroundings here at home made the city a very interesting and exciting place. Life was plentiful and yet Sakura only yearned for a single thing.

She _lived_ for Sasuke.

She _woke_ to Sasuke.

She _prayed_ for Sasuke.

They had known each other their entire lives but Sasuke never placed the sort of interest to Sakura that she held for him. The love was one-sided and bittersweet, anything but fulfilling, but Sakura pushed on in hopes that one day her love be returned. She secretly watched his every move- not in a creepy way of course- and cherished his being. She prayed for his future and spoiled him although he never thought much about her actions. All this and the solidification of having known Sasuke for the seventeen years of his (precious) life and her unrequited love dragged on painfully. She was docile, though, so she hadn't let this faze her or become disheartening in any way possible. To Sakura, being around Sasuke was more than enough; in school he was considered the king of the social hierarchy and was also a nationally ranked baseball player-number one in Japan, matter of 'factly. His grades were exceptional mid A's and he would often score within the top ten for exams. Sasuke was a model student and child, really. He was so handsome with his lean, toned and muscular body, his huge back with jutting shoulder blades and a defined collarbone. It also seemed as if he subconsciously took pride in his blackish blue hair, which was somewhat long and always neatly groomed. His broad shoulders and huge hands got Sakura the most though; she imagined throwing her arms around those shoulders and feeling his huge alabaster hands grip her tiny waist.

However, she knew it was a far-fetched dream.

As she took her seat, having already made it back to class, Sakura rested her elbow on her desk and placed her chin the palm of her hand. She drowned herself in thoughts and the explosive orange-pink sky. Tomorrow couldn't come any slower.

* * *

"Summer uniforms!"

"Okay, Naruto, now would'ya chill out man? C'mon bud, you're embarrassin' me!"

Sakura giggled; she couldn't help it, in fact she doubted anyone could. It was early in the morning and Naruto was already harassing a half dead Kiba with his usual antics. She watched as the blonde wiggled 360° around Kiba, wide awake and Monster fueled. They were headed through the usual grassy plain where most students living in the area followed to get to school. Sakura walked with her usual morning group: Kiba, Ino, Naruto and Karin. Sasuke lived just a little while away, but as usual he had driven to the terminal to pick up Gaara.

She decided this was a normal morning.

"I love our summer uniforms too, Naruto."

It was Ino who brought Sakura's attention to their attire. The light blonde haired teen was right though; Sakura was so excited to wear hers earlier this morning. The ladies summer uniform consisted of two given blouse-like collared shirts that were starch white and made out of a lighter sheen like material (it remained school sensible since the shirt was not necessarily see through) the sleeves ended a little past the elbow and folded only to be held in place by a cute strap and button. Her two skirts were both navy blue and pleated like the winter skirts, just they weren't black, and more flared. They wore red shoes to match the school colors even more, as long as they were loafers or flats, though the required color was black. Lastly, there was a small and simple glossy red ribbon to be tied around the collar of the shirt. Sakura absolutely loved her uniform and began wondering what she looked like as they neared the school. Her head felt a little odd since she'd worn her hair in a bun literally for half of the previous summer and all of the first semester; now it was long and cascading, she even had a natural wavy wispy look and volume that she was proud to decide no one else had. If her mid-back length hair ever became a problem for her she would decidedly go to the cutting board once again since her hair grew rather fast. This, of course, would mean it would be the first time Sasuke had seen her hair out since a while.

"Check this out," Sakura watched as Naruto shoved his phone underneath Kiba's nose, "Gaara got into a fight yesterday at the baseball game, Sasuke had to pull him off the other guy."

"Ah shit, that looks painful." Kiba hissed, vicariously feeling the pain through the photo as Naruto turned the phone screen towards Sakura for her to see. The photo was just another disposable photograph to Naruto, but to Sakura this was most certainly a world treasure. She recognized the altar in the background and immediately identified the setting as Sasuke's house, Gaara was sitting on the wooden floor of the living room as Sasuke began to gauze his wounds- she guessed the person taking the photo was either a team mate or Itachi, Sasuke's older brother. They seemed so unfamiliar in the picture, what with Gaara's visibly pissed face and Sasuke's giddy expression. She smiled at Naruto and looked at Iwabuchi High School- her school.

'Okay,' she sighed, 'I can do this.'

It was like this everyday.

Sasuke was in all of her classes, except personal fitness since their last two were flip flopped.

"Sasuke. Go home- you don't look so hot. Go on, get, before coach sees you."

"Gaara shut up."

His best friend was right though; Sasuke was looking extremely pale and frightening and today had been the first time Sakura had ever seen him sleep in class. She watched carefully as Gaara made his way over to Sasuke, he sloppily pulled out the chair across from the Uchiha and slumped downwards.

"I'll tell Itachi." The red head threatened,

"If you don't shut the **_fuck_ **up I'll make you."

"Try it, pretty boy, and I'll break that lucky bat of yours over your head."

"Listen you slut: I'll pitch a curve ball up your ass, so can it!"

"Come at me, shit face."

Sasuke sighed, defeated and tired; he placed his head back on his desk and rubbed his temple. He squeezed his eyed closed and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his chest, "Gaara, if its really bad... forgive me."

"We're only in preliminaries, so you can miss a few games."

Sasuke groaned, "Preliminaries, you say..." He opened his eyes and caught Sakura making her way back into the classroom, they were on break and she had gone to use the restroom. He opened them a little wider when he realized that it was the first time he'd seen her hair down for quite some time. He thought about wonderfully beautiful it looked and how much it reminded him of cherry blossoms, how it curled just enough to frame her petite face and how fragile her whole being seemed. Noticing this made it hard for Sasuke to breathe.

Then, everything turned black.

With girls, rain only came when it was needed. Right on cue, too-whenever something depressing happened- Sakura couldn't help but to throw on an oversized t-shirt, and chill out by the basement window. It wasn't too often that her dirty house was quiet like this; her father was away (she thanked the lords) she needed the peace and quiet, really-she did. Upon Sasuke's black out, Gaara had denied her companionship in the ambulance. At first it had left the blush tinted child sour and angry, but she slowly gained her senses as the day went on. By the time Iwabuchi High School was filled with pink light she was back to her plain, normal sense. Regardless, she found herself fidgety on the sill of the window bench; of course it was. Sasuke was her one and only true love, and, Sakura, she was determined.

This wasn't just any "teenage infatuation".

Anyone around Sasuke would know that he'd been through something tough, and what he had gone through that week no one should ever have too. Ever since then he'd changed too. He didn't smile as much as he used to, he didn't make funny jokes, he started smoking, and he somehow managed to never talk about himself. Sakura did her best to overlook the whole situation, she treated him the same and never once acted as if she pitied him. She looked down at the unfinished basement floor- it had turned her feet undoubtedly black.

Treating someone different doesn't keep them from feeling what they're assuming.

Sakura could remember the worse day of her life like her cellphone number. It was a chilly August day, late into the season, September; she was heading back with Sasuke since she'd insisted on someone being with him at every moment they could. Thinking back, she realized how dumb the whole situation was; anyone in that sort of situation should be left alone unless they choose themselves to confide in another being. She had been so "caring" and "understanding" that it suffocated young Sasuke and he snapped under the pressure:

"You know what Sakura- I was never going to tell you, but you're a pain in the ass. And you don't understand, and you don't care, and you can't relate. Get out of my life. I don't need _you_ in it."

She figured she could cry some at the memory, but she had trained herself to be stronger since she had to be. She swung her legs down from the windowsill and reproached to the stairs. She made her way back to her room and opened the window there, she let the humidity swallow up the house and grabbed her guitar. The thing was a beauty; it was a plain acoustic and molded out of pale, apricot colored wood, the sides, head stock, pick guard and saddle were all a darker walnut color. She played a tune or two and found herself yearning for sleep afterwards.

She fell asleep clinging to the guitar, with the window open.

* * *

_**[Summer Vacation]**_

* * *

Sasuke's coach had visited their class to collect his work from their teacher. He'd announced that Sasuke had fractured a rib and broken his wrist, he hadn't felt the pain because his nervous system was on the rocks due to prior history.

"He's definitely a strong kid; he'll be back say… in a month or two tops."

Gaara snorted and got up from his seat, "It's my fault right? That kid went apeshit on him because I wouldn't back off and then he went and got himself involved."

"Sit down before I have you suspended the rest of the season."

"I'm going to see him. He's the only family I've got."

The coach scowled as he watched Gaara retreat out of the sliding door before following shortly after. Sakura's day ended there. She spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how she'd approach Sasuke on a hospital day, but she couldn't settle on anything. The sophomore decided that there was no way she could utter a word without him assuming that it was the same situation from years ago. The next best thing was Itachi, his brother, but he owned his own business and there was no telling if he'd be home at all. Sakura took her chances though, she left once the bell rang and took the train to a town nearby where Sasuke lived. They'd moved, inevitably, but the feeling was still somewhat the same; warm and welcoming, just eerie-especially in the post rain weather.

She rang the doorbell.

"Hey." Itachi hadn't changed either, he was tall, lean, smelled good, and still had long hair and thick eyelashes, "Haven't seen you in six years."

She found herself wheeling for the words, "I know- how are you?"

"Come in, it's humid out there."

She let herself be guided by the eldest Uchiha's giant hands to the inside of the house. It was modern and sheik on the inside, thin metal railings on a large staircase to the left and a fuzzy fur rug in a viewable living room from where she was standing. The walls were dark stained wood and brick wall, some places even metal, it seemed like a heavily westernized home. She followed Itachi, clad in a sleek, black cotton kimono, to the kitched where she set her belongings on a low set sofa and took a seat at the kitchen bar. Itachi began to brew some tea and took his time to start the conversation,

"It's funny you're here today." He said with his back to her, "Sasuke said you'd become rather beautiful without anyone noticing." He reached into a cupboard near the dark titanium fridge and pulled two fat glass teacups from their respectful shelves.

"He was delirious though, he normally wouldn't say creepy things like that."

"I had never realized that he ever even looked at me."

"He drops a comment about you every once in a while. He can never find enough to say though," a shadow of anxiety flooded Itachi's chiseled features, "are you guys okay? He never invites you over or anything."

Sakura decided to piece the puzzle together for Itachi, "After your parents died, I'm sor-,"

"Don't bother, continue."

"I pestered him too much, and he dismissed me from his life. Since then I haven't been able to conjure up the courage to speak to him… and he hasn't attempted to speak to me."

Itachi seemed a bit annoyed, "I don't see why he wouldn't, you're a looker, and you're personality and atmosphere actually matches your looks," he scratched his scalp, "unlike a lot of his little bed-buddies."

He meant it too, sure her breasts weren't that big, but she made up for it in the little bit of conversation she had, her nice smelling hair and sort features. He didn't understand why Sasuke would miss up on the chance to take this girl.

"Well, it's nice to know you don't hate me too, it's reassuring." She said with a blush a pink much deeper than her hair,

"Sasuke may not speak to you," Itachi began, "But I don't think he hates you. He seems indifferent in your eyes. But in mine he seems confused and almost scared." Itachi turned around to lean on the fridge as he poured the now ready tea, he faced Sakura again and finished his thought, "He's not good at expressing himself on his own. He's been like that since he was little, and since mom and dad passed away he's gotten even worse at it."

He gave Sakura a glass of reddish tea and smiled brightly.

"Work with him and he'll work with you."

* * *

**This chapter was originally much longer, so much so that it seemed like an overkill. Please RATE&REVIEW, I'd love to know your thoughts and critique 3**

**Let me know if it was good enough for more!**

**- Soldier**


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